ResidentialCategory

About 45 house fires, including condos, are reported every hour in the U.S., and 60 percent of fires are started by cooking equipment. More than 12 million unintentional home / condo cooking fires go unreported causing 640,000 injuries annually. It just takes minutes for a fire to start https://vimeo.com/66861851.

In addition to the destruction of property estimated at $7 billion per year in the U.S. alone, the National Fire Protection Association reports that 43 percent of people who died in cooking fires were asleep at the time. Developers spend millions building beautiful condo communities with many amenities, but do not consider that distraction and forgetfulness can pose significant dangers to the residents who cook, as well as their nearby neighbors.

Further, with the recession and the concurrent reduction in fire fighter staff seen in cities big and small, it would be smart to stop fires before they start. States should require mandatory range top suppression equipment in new buildings or remodels just like sprinklers and earthquake shut-off valves are now required. These units can be retrofitted as well.

In the meantime, there are some safety precautions that everyone can take to prevent cooking fires:

Never leave cooking unattended. A serious fire can start in just seconds.

Keep a fire extinguisher in the kitchen and practice using it.

Have a pot cover close by to put out a cooking fire quickly.

Wipe up spills from the stove which could catch fire.

Always wear short or tight-fitting sleeves when you cook.

Keep towels, pot holders and curtains away from open flames.

Don’t overfill pans with grease or cooking oil.

Never use the range or oven to heat your home.

Double-check the kitchen before you go to bed or leave the house.

Never leave the kitchen to answer the door, grab the telephone, or change clothes while something is cooking without shutting the gas or electricity off.

Be aware that it is dangerous to cook while on certain prescription medications or drinking alcohol.

Winston-Salem North Carolina Fire Department reports that there were 22 kitchen cooking fires already this year. In 2016, there were 70 kitchen fires, up from 57 the year before. The Department has been installing 500 stove top fire suppression devices in high fire areas.According to the Winston-Salem Journal, “Half of home fires start in the kitchen,” said Sabrina Stowe, the department’s senior community educator. “These are totally preventable.”

Smart Safety: Kitchen Fire Safety

Guardian Safety Solutions International, Inc. (GSSI), the nation’s largest provider of range top fire suppression systems, wants to share tips for kitchen fire safety. Based on 2009-2013 annual averages, cooking equipment was the leading cause of home fires and fire injuries, causing 46% of home fires that resulted in 19% of the home fire deaths and 44% of the injuries. Two-thirds of home cooking fires started with the ignition of food or other cooking materials. Frying poses the greatest risk of fire (statistics from the National Fire Protection Association).

Ranges or cook tops accounted for the majority (61%) of home cooking fire incidents. “Prevention is the core of our ‘Guardian Solution’ range top suppression system. That’s why we observe fire prevention all year, not just this week,” said Paul Rouse, GSSI’s administrative officer. “The time to protect yourself against a range top fire is before it strikes. By installing the Guardian, you can rest at ease.” He added that kitchens can be retrofitted as well. With the system, a fire can be extinguished in as little as seven seconds (video). 10 tips for kitchen fire safety are:

Never leave a room while cooking.

If you must leave the room while cooking, turn off the stove.

Keep pot handles turned to the back of the stove so children cannot grab them.

Wear short sleeves or tight sleeves while cooking so nothing dangles near a flame.

Never throw water on a grease fire – smother it with a pan lid instead.

Keep children and pets out of the “kid-free” zone three feet from the stove.

Have a fire escape plan, and review and rehearse it often.

The Guardian is designed to detect and extinguish cooking fires and at the same time prevents re-ignition. Once it detects heat at a pre-determined temperature, a signal is sent to release the extinguishing agent to suppress the fire and to shut off the gas or electric supply to the stove in order to prevent reigniting. “Whether it is a single home, apartment, senior housing, dormitory or church at risk, putting the fire out quickly is imperative to minimize damage and injury,” Rouse said.

Protecting families worldwide since 1985, Guardian Safety Solutions International Inc. is the recognized leader in the development and manufacturing of residential range top fire protection systems. GSSI’s mission is to develop and distribute quality safety products that provide customers with peace of mind, while protecting lives and property. GSSI manufactures the Guardian III Model G300B, UL and ULC listed with a fuel shut-off.

There are so many things to look forward to over this Labor Day weekend! Families and friends gather for BBQs, picnics and potluck. As you enjoy a long weekend with friends and loved ones, old and new, here are some smart ways to prepare those holiday dishes and store those inevitable leftovers safely:

• Always keep food preparation surfaces clean, before and after preparing food. Using paper towels and disinfectant spray to wipe down counter tops will prevent bacteria from spreading much better than using a dishtowel. Don’t forget to wash your hands with soap and water frequently and remind the kids!

• Wash all produce right before using it, not when you bring it from the grocery store. Don’t just wash fruits and veggies with edible skin either, but do be sure to scrub any produce skins that have rougher or bumpy textures. Discard the outer layer of lettuce and cabbage too, since that is the most likely to be contaminated with germs that can make you sick.

• Do not leave food sitting out on counter tops or the picnic table for more than two hours. Throw it out after that. Bacteria can grow on food at temperatures that range from 41 to 135 degrees Fahrenheit, so it’s smart to keep these items cold until you’re ready to eat them.

• Store food in your refrigerator safely. Meats should be kept on the bottom shelves (which are coolest), and in well-sealed containers to prevent dripping and cross-contamination. Fish should always be kept on ice too, since it will go bad quickly. Vegetables can be kept in their plastic grocery bags, but if you wrap them in paper towels beforehand, it will absorb respiration and keep them fresh longer. Finally, investing in a refrigerator thermometer will ensure that your food is kept under 40 degrees Fahrenheit at all times.

• When thawing frozen food, it’s best to do so in the refrigerator.

And remember, cooking safety includes a Guardian Safety Solutions range top Guardian III Model G300B, the only residential range top fire protection in the U.S. and Canada that is UL and ULC listed. The Guardian is designed to detect and extinguish cooking fires and prevent re-ignition. Even older kitchens can be retrofitted. (See how the Guardian works here.)

Once it detects heat at a pre-determined temperature, the Guardian sends a signal to release an extinguishing agent that suppresses the fire. Guardian also shuts off the stove’s gas or electric supply in order to prevent re-ignition.

Have a wonderful, safe and delicious holiday weekend from Guardian Safety Solutions International!

We stumbled on a great bunch of kitchen safety tips Leanne Ely who goes by the moniker the Dinner Diva. Take these to heart and read more at SavingDinner.com. Of course, to be extra safe, install the Guardian III G300B which puts out range top fires in seconds.

Be aware of flammables. Stop putting those oven mitts and kitchen towels anywhere near the stove top. You might think you are safe because you don’t leave flammables next to your element, but remember what happened to my friend, when a spark caused a tea towel to catch fire . . . a tea towel that was hanging off the oven door (where many of us often place these things!). Curtains, appliance cords and anything else that can melt or catch fire should have a safe amount of distance between it and the stove.

Dress appropriately. Loose fitting clothing can catch fire. When you’re cooking—especially over propane burners—,keep baggy shirts tucked in or tied back with a well-fitting apron. Avoid wearing long, flowing sleeves when you’re at the stove, too.

Don’t leave the kitchen. If you have something cooking in the kitchen, stay in the room. If you absolutely have to step out of the kitchen while you’re cooking, take the pots and pans off the heat or turn off the boiler. Unattended pots and pans is the most common cause of kitchen fires.

Know your smoke points. Become familiar with the smoking points of the fats and oils you use for cooking. Oils with low smoke points brought to high temperatures can catch fire.

Dispose of grease responsibly. That means not throwing hot grease in the garbage can—it can cause something in the trash can to ignite. Wait until the grease cools and then dispose of it.

Clean grease spills. If you spill grease during cooking and it falls into the drip pan under your stove’s cooking element, turn off the heat and wait for the burner to cool down; then, clean up the spill. Otherwise, the next time you go to cook something, you’ll probably forget about the grease being there and it could easily ignite.

Use appropriate cooking utensils. If you’re cooking something in a deep layer of oil, be sure to use long-handled tongs to allow you to safely put food in and take food out without causing grease to splash out over the sides. In fact, deep fat cooking should only be done in a deep fryer.

Watch for smoke. When your cooking oil starts smoking, that means it’s close to catching fire and you need to carefully remove the pan from the heat source.

In case the worst case scenario happens, be sure to have a fire extinguisher in the kitchen where it’s in easy reach. Never, ever put water on a grease fire because it can make the fire spread.

A teen died in a late night cooking fire after arriving home after drinking alcohol. The teen, 17 year-old, Alex Lewis, started his meal fell asleep and died from smoke inhalation. His life might have been spared had he not attempted to cook after drinking and if his home had been outfitted with smoke detectors. Unattended cooking is a risk for all young people especially college students in apartments. Parents should consider the Guardian system for putting the fire out quickly to minimize damage and injury.

In the aftermath of the devastating home fire in Brooklyn on March 21st that left seven children dead and their mother and sister in critical condition, it’s important to remember how preventable so many of these kinds of tragedies can be. The American Red Cross has determined that every day, approximately seven people die, and 36 are injured in household fires across the nation. Of those statistics, two out of every five home fires began in the kitchen. (Photo Credit: AP / Mary Altaffer)

The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) has tried to bring the issue of home fire safety to the forefront with educational materials and classes, but “people have a general complacency about fire,” says Lorraine Carli, a spokesperson for the NFPA. No one seems to think it will happen to them. In 2013 alone, 85 percent of all fire deaths in the United States occurred in the home, however, and cooking is the number one cause. The Brooklyn fire is believed to have begun due to a malfunctioning hot plate that was left on overnight in the kitchen. However, firefighters at the scene also noted that there were no working smoke detectors on the home’s first or second floors.

Here are some tips to help prevent kitchen and home fires to share with your household:
• Never leave cooking unattended. In more than 30 percent of kitchen fires, unattended cooking was a factor. If you leave the kitchen, be sure to turn burners off.
• Keep towels, oven mitts, food packaging and anything else that could catch fire away from the stove top, and do not cook in loose-fitting clothing that could get too close to burners or oven heat.
• Check on the food you’re cooking regularly to ensure pan oil isn’t too hot, and use a timer to help monitor food’s progress. Also be sure to keep cooking areas clean and clear of buildup and crumbs that could overheat and catch fire.
• Always maintain working smoke detectors in every level of your home, and ensure that batteries are replaced when needed.

For more information about how you can keep your home and family safe from kitchen and household fires, connect with us today at http://guardianssi.com.

The Inquisitor reports that Isaiah Cox popped the marriage question to his girlfriend which also happened to be her birthday. To celebrate, he wanted to make her special breakfast. But a nasty grease fire started in the kitchen and the house and proposal went up in smoke.

The South Jersey Times reports that he heard his son crying and went to check on him. Cox claims he was only gone for a minute but when he returned to the kitchen, the cabinets were on fire. While there was a fire extinguisher, he got confused and forgot to use it.

The South Jersey Times says, “the Millville Fire Chief Kurt Hess notes that the fire took quite some time to finally get under control. The firefighters were dispatched to the home at around 10:15 a.m. and the fire was not under control until 1 p.m.” Read more here.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports a toddler was injured in a cooking fire. According to the report by Meg Jones, “A one-year-old boy was burned in a house fire Monday evening. When firefighters arrived at the two-family home around 7:30 p.m., the child and his mother were already outside the home in the 1700 block of W. Capitol Drive, said Battalion 2 Chief Kenton Kais. The boy suffered first- and second-degree burns on his arms and right leg and was taken to Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin, where he was expected to recover.The blaze was caused by a cooking fire. Fire crews were on the scene for 1 1/2 hours.” Create a three-foot “child-free zone” around the stove. Keep children and pets away from the stove while cooking to prevent burns and scalds

Since being founded in 1985, Guardian Safety Solutions International Inc., is the recognized leader in both development and manufacturing of range top fire protections systems. The Guardian systems are the only systems on the market to hold UL/ULC listings for domestic stove top protection.